KILLING APPS

Before I discuss how to kill a misbehaving app, I want to take a moment and discuss when not to kill an app. Applications that exist to kill other applications — called task killers — have been a staple of the Android market practically from its inception, and I cannot tell how many of my friends, upon first getting an Android device, ask me which one is best. My answer is always the same: none of them.

The perceived need for a task killer comes from two things: first, the lack of any obvious way to stop or close most apps, and second, a fundamental misunderstanding of how apps work and how Android manages apps in the first place. The first issue — the fact that very few apps have a built-in way to close themselves — derives from app developers, mostly, understanding the reality of the second issue, so that is the better place to start. Once you understand how Android handles apps in the first place, you will understand why apps are not developed with a “close” button and why task killers are not necessary.